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Birmingham to Stafford

Michael Portillo learns how the railways helped to make Birmingham the world's pen-making capital and hears tales of a notorious Victorian murderer.

Armed with his copy of Bradshaw's Victorian railway guidebook, Michael Portillo continues his series of journeys along the tracks that helped fuel the Industrial Revolution by travelling to the manufacturing centres of the Midlands, before turning west to experience the stunning Severn Valley railway en route to Wales and the Victorian seaside resort of Aberystwyth.

He learns how the railways helped to make Birmingham the pen-making capital of the world, hears the chilling tale of one of 19th-century Britain's most notorious murderers and samples the delicacies concocted in a Victorian kitchen at Shugborough Hall.

30 minutes

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Credits

Role Contributor
Presenter Michael Portillo
Series Producer Michelle Heeley
Director Dean Griffiths
Executive Producer John Comerford

Broadcasts

Steam railway programmes on 麻豆社 iPlayer

A collection of programmes from the 麻豆社 archives on the beauty of steam locomotives.